


The Best Kind Of Stress Relief

by i_am_catfood



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Aromatherapy, Banter, Because nothing is awful, Canon compliant but nothing like canon rn, Cuddles, Domestic Fluff, Domesticity, Fluff, Kissing, Laughter/giggles, M/M, Malec, One Shot, Prompt Fic, i love them, laughter is the best medicine, malec one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-18 18:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14857793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_catfood/pseuds/i_am_catfood
Summary: Alec Lightwood is clever in many ways, but not necessarily in knowing how much very strong, peppermint scented oils to put on one's face.





	The Best Kind Of Stress Relief

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven't posted any writing in a long time, so I thought I'd post an old fic I never shared on here. This was a prompt from my friend IRL that I wrote for her for Christmas. Also based on her experiences with peppermint-scented aromatherapy.

Alec stepped into the apartment, slowly closing the door behind him. Since he had moved in, he had gradually stopped texting when he would be coming home and as a result he would usually end up finding Magnus occupying himself in another room. He breathed in deeply as his nose filled with a strong peppermint smell. He dropped his bag to the floor as he moved further inside. Today he found Magnus sitting at the table, writing out some kind of list. He slid up behind Magnus, noticing as he placed his head down on Magnus' shoulder that the peppermint smell was coming from his boyfriend.

"What're you up to?" He mumbled into the crook of Magnus' neck.

"Mm. Warlock things." Magnus replied, putting his pen down and turning to kiss Alec's cheek.

"What's that smell?" Alec inquired.

"Aromatherapy. For stress." Magnus gestured towards a small glass tube with a metal cap on it.

"Can I try?" He asked, reaching for the tube and pulling off the cap. He dabbed a generous amount onto his finger and rubbed it onto his temples before Magnus could respond.

"Alec- wait it's- you're not supposed to-" Magnus laughed as he frantically reached for the tube.

"What? What'd I do?" Alec looked slightly panicked, causing Magnus to laugh harder. He shook his head at the shadowhunter, who was now checking the small bottle for instructions, only to discover that nothing on it was in any language he could read. He took a deep breath to collect himself and put his hand on a disgruntled Alec's cheek.

"Darling. You're not supposed to put on that much." Magnus chuckled.

"It feels fine..." Alec said, rubbing at his temple.

 

A few minutes later, Alec had pulled Magnus away from his work and onto the couch. They were lying down, limbs tangled up together, when Alec cried out and rolled onto the floor.  
Magnus looked up, sliding off the couch and sitting down beside Alec. 

"That was the peppermint just now. It takes a minute." he supplied unhelpfully.

"By the angel, Magnus. Why does it burn?" Alec groaned, putting his arms over his head, covering his eyes.

"I told you not to use so much." Magnus said, suppressing literal giggles at this point . Alec groaned again and flung a hand at Magnus, making its way to his styled hair and messing it up as Magnus tried to bat his hand away, laughing. He ducked under Alec's arms, planting a firm kiss on Alec's lips. Alec hummed in surprise, lowering his arms to rest on the small of Magnus' back. But as soon as he relaxed into the kiss, Magnus reached his own hands up to Alec's head and messing up his hair in retaliation. 

"Hey!" Alec laughed, tightening his grip on Magnus' waist and pulling himself up, flipping Magnus underneath him in the process. He looked down, beaming at the man beneath him before dropping his head back down to rest in the space between Magnus’ collarbone and neck.  
"My head still hurts. Isn't the aromatherapy supposed to make me less stressed?" He mumbled. 

"Did it not work?" Magnus smirked.

"Hmm. You make me less stressed." Alec replied, planting a kiss on Magnus' collarbone.

"Most of the time." Magnus added quietly.

"It's late. I'm gonna run a bath." Alec declared, standing up.

"Oh! There's some peppermint oil in the cupboard, I hear it's very calming." Magnus yelled after him.

"Are you making fun of me?" Alec asked, popping his head back into the room.

"Never. And I'm definitely not texting all our friends to tell them that the mighty Alec Lightwood was defeated by overzealous aromatherapy application." Magnus replied, pulling out his phone as he spoke.

"NO." Alec yelled from the other room.

Magnus smiled to himself. As cheesy as it may be, love and laughter were apparently better stress relief than any scent in the world.


End file.
